Color That Was Drained From My Soul
by Kaiimi
Summary: When one of the gang's friends ends up murdered at Peach's castle the morning after an out of control Halloween party, everyone grieves over the loss and wonder who could've done it. But as more clues are found, the gang realizes that their murdered friend wasn't as innocent as they all once thought, and that they can't trust anyone, not their own friends...not even themselves.
1. Lights Out

Happy Halloween everyone! Welcome to another yearly Halloween fic from me. This one is going to be a lot darker and more serious than any of my previous Horror fics that you've seen, and it's also going to be pretty long too, about 24-28 chapters. This story was inspired by "Shadow of Doubt" by AdmiralBobbery, "Death is But a Game" by BoomShroom, and the TV show "Pretty Little Liars."

**Cast: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Peach, Daisy, Pauline, Rosalina, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette, DK, Diddy, Dixie, Kooper, Goombella, Koops, Vivian, Bobbery, Count Bleck, Nastasia, Dimentio  
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I may or may not add one more character as the story goes on, but other than that, no more characters will appear.

**The following story is rated T for language, violence, and disturbing scenes.**

It was Halloween night and Princess Peach was holding a costume party at her castle. Dance music was blasting, people were getting drunk, food and drinks were thrown everywhere...it was definitely a disaster.

"HEY! Don't you dare knock that vase over! That thing cost me 200 coins and I do NOT want to get a replacement!" yelled Peach at a wasted partygoer who was dancing pretty extremely right next to her tall, ceramic blue vase.

Vivian walked towards Peach, lightly pushing various people out of the way due to how crowded it was. "Peach, this party is getting completely out of control! I told you it was a bad idea to bring a bunch of Tequila here!"

"I know, I know! But I just wanted one of my parties to be exciting for once. You have to admit, they're usually so dull and slower paced...which I'm definitely preferring now over this mess! I'm so glad Mario and Luigi aren't here to see this chaos...I bet they're having loads of fun in Isle Delfino..." Peach shook her head, definitely regretting even throwing the party in the first place.

"And with parties like these, you just KNOW there's gonna be a good chance a fight will be started. We need to send these people home now before someone does something incredibly dangerous and we'll have to pay the price for it!" yelled Vivian, very concerned for the princess' safety and for the castle as well.

Peach was about to respond, that is, until Rosalina ran up to the both of them in a state of panic.

"Have you guys seen Daisy anywhere!? She told me she had to go to the bathroom so I said I would wait for her, but that was 20 minutes ago! I've checked every bathroom I could in the castle but all of them were empty. I even texted her but I've got no response yet..." explained Rosalina with a very worried expression. She was secretly fearing that some drunk bastard took her against her will and went into one of the bedrooms.

"Oh god, she wasn't drinking a lot, was she? She probably passed out in some random bedroom..." sighed Peach, already tired of this damn party.

"I-I don't think she was. But we need to find her now! Anything could happen to her..." begged Rosalina.

"Okay okay, we'll look for her together. Peach, why don't you go check your room since if Daisy really is drunk, then that might be the first place she'll go to be at," suggested Vivian and the girls walked off to start the search elsewhere.

"Ugh, I am SO throwing invitation-only parties from now on..." groaned Peach and went upstairs.

"Yoshi, come on, let's get going. This is too messy for my tastes, especially now that I've seen that couple on the couch literally stick their tongues down each other's throats!" yelled Birdo.

"Ugh...can you...drive, Birdo? I think I might've...taken in too much of that sweet Tequila..." groaned the dinosaur, holding his stomach.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me! Yoshi, what the hell did I tell you about drinking too much alcohol!? You do realize you're gonna have a colossal headache in the morning, right?" Birdo shook her head, especially after warning him multiple times about not taking in too much alcohol.

"I know, but...Tequila...so...damn good...OH GOD!" Yoshi suddenly covered his mouth and ran towards the bathroom like his life depended on it.

Birdo sighed in frustration, grabbed her purse, and began to head out until she bumped into a familiar person.

"OOH! Oh, I terribly apologize for...Birdo! What a pleasant surprise it is running in to you here! How have you been? Are you here all by your lonesome?" said the one and only Dimentio in his annoying and demeaning tone.

"DIMENTIO!? What the hell are you doing here?" asked Birdo in total surprise. She never thought that the jester of all people would want to attend some random wild party.

"I came here to meet someone very close to me. Why do you ask? Is it that important to know why I, Dimentio, Master of dimensions and pleaser of crowds, am here attending this disastrous party?" teased Dimentio with a wink.

"Yes it is important actually, because whenever you're around, trouble always happens! I know about all the crap you did a long time ago so don't think I'm gonna let you pull off another one of your stupid tricks," yelled Birdo, ready to smackdown this jerk.

"Oh just piper down already. Save your wrath for something that's ACTUALLY threatening," the jester sighed, rolled his eyes, and walked off into the crowd.

"WOAH! WATCH IT!" screamed Toadette as she barely dodged a thrown plastic water bottle.

"Ugh, whose brilliant idea was it come to this annoying party? It's full of idiots that just want to get wasted and have a one night stand. We're too good for this, sis. We are out of here," grunted Toad in frustration.

"Err it was technically Peach's idea to come here since she said it would be a fun and safe time...both of which are not happening right now! Let me go get my sweater and then we'll go," replied Toadette and attempted to tread through the loud and obnoxious party people. As she was making her way, she saw Dixie and Diddy who both looked like they were in the middle of an argument.

"I heard everything earlier today when you were talking to Toadette at the house! How the hell could you do this to me, Dixie!? I trusted you! I thought you loved me!" yelled Diddy, who was starting to sob.

"DIDDY, YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME! YOU DON'T KNOW THE WHOLE STORY! And I do love you with all my heart! I just...if I tell you why it happened in the first place...it will kill you...but it wasn't my fault! I was...I was..." Dixie struggled to get her words out without breaking down in tears.

"It will kill me? Huh...it already did, Dixie. I am done with you," Diddy angrily shook his head and stomped upstairs while Dixie buried her face in her hands.

"Oh god...I knew this was going to happen sooner or later..." sighed Toadette and was about to go and comfort Dixie until she saw DK nearby, glaring right at her.

"What the hell...?"

"YOU BITCH!" yelled a familiar female voice. Right after that, there was a bunch of screams as Goombella tumbled down the stairs.

"IF YOU EVER GET CLOSE TO MY MAN AGAIN, I WILL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!" roared a drunken Pauline who had pushed the poor goomba gal down.

"Ooooooookay then that's more than enough drinks for one night! Pauline, let's get out of here unless you want your ass arrested...AGAIN!" yelled Waluigi who was in shock at the violent act that occurred. He grabbed Pauline and pulled her out of there before anyone could do anything.

Koops and Kooper ran over to Goombella's aid and helped her up.

"My god, Goombella! Are you alright!? You're not bleeding, are you!?" asked Kooper.

"Ugh...my head is killing me...what the hell was that chick's problem though!? I was just telling Waluigi something! It's not like I was hitting on him...not like I would ever do that in a million years anyways because ew!" yelled Goombella who luckily didn't have much physical damage to her.

"Well it's over with now, but we should get out of here in case anything more, um, dangerous happens because this party is getting out of control," suggested Koops and the two dragged her out of there.

Meanwhile, Wario came out of the upstairs bathroom, tipsy as all hell and his vision was slightly blurred.

"Ah shit...BURP! Can...can someone help get me down the...thing pleeeaaase? Waluigi? Are ya here? Helloooooooooooooo!?" he called out and slurred his words as he attempted to walk down the hallway without stumbling over. He then saw a familiar person approach him.

"Oh! Daisy! That you? Yes? No? Yes? Maybe so? Well whatever! Help me down those goddamn stairs so my stupid brother can take me home..." he growled and Daisy took him along and carefully led him down the stairs then to the outside.

Peach opened the door to her bedroom and was surprised to see Diddy of all people to be in there. He was talking to someone on his cellphone while crying uncontrollably.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT! My life has been absolute hell ever since I met you and...what? You want me to do WHAT!? NO! SCREW THAT! I AM DONE HIDING SECRETS! LOOK AT WHERE IT'S BROUGHT ME! I WANT OUT!" he screamed.

"Diddy? What's going on? What are you doing here?" asked Peach in concern and slight fear since she had never seen the monkey so emotional before.

"P-PEACH!" he shrieked and accidentally dropped his phone. "I...I'm...um...please...leave me alone...I just...wanna be alone..."

The princess wanted to ask why but she was afraid he would explode at her so she quickly nodded and closed the door.

"Wow...that was actually a bit freaky...who the heck was he talking to?" she asked to herself.

Meanwhile, as Vivian was just about to give up on the search for Daisy, she saw her come into the castle.

"Oh Daisy! Where were you? Me, Rosalina, and Peach were looking all over for you! We were worried you had gotten wasted and passed out or something!" the shadow siren yelled in relief.

"Oh I was just talking to Luigi on the phone in one of the rooms upstairs because it's so goddamn loud in here. I was also taking Wario to his brother's car because one more drink, and he would die of alcohol poisoning!" she explained and laughed a little.

"Alright then...well, I guess now we just find Rosalina and Peach so they can see you're okay. We also need to find a way to get everyone out of here because this place is getting trashed by the second!" exclaimed Vivian.

Right after she said that, the electricity shut off along with the music from the TV which made the partygoers groan in disappointment and some even screamed.

"Everyone! It seems as if there has been some kind of power outage so I need you all to exit the castle so no one gets, um, lost and...hurt?" shouted Toad, trying to find any kind of legit excuse to get these people the hell out of there already. But surprisingly, they all listened and walked out of the castle, leaving some of the remaining characters behind.

"Um wow. Okay then. That was helpful yet coincidental. How the hell did the electricity just go off like that?" Birdo asked.

"Oh I just switched off the fusebox in the basement. I could tell Peach was getting pretty tired of the insanity that was happening so I had to do something to help her out before me and Toadette left," explained Toad.

"Why thank you, Toad! I was actually getting ready to call the police to come over here since I was running out of options on what to do about those people..." Peach spoke as she was heard walking to the living room due to her heels.

"So, uhh, anyone wanna go down to the spooky, dark basement and turn all the lights back on?" asked Daisy.

"Give me a flashlight and I'll go. We certainly won't be able to clean up the place in the dark," said Rosalina.

"Ugh, I'm afraid to see what this place will look like once the lights turn back on!" said Toadette.

"Here Rosalina, follow me into the kitchen and I'll hand you the flashlight then I'll lead you to where the basement is," ordered Peach and the two princesses left to the kitchen.

"Okay it's getting awkward to be standing around in the dark like this so why don't we all just go outside till the lights come back on?" suggested Birdo and everyone immediately agreed with a "Yeah" or "Yes please!".

The remaining characters that were inside, besides Peach and Rosalina, exited and were met with Goombella, Koops, and Kooper who were standing right outside, looking concerned. They also saw the partygoers talking amongst themselves and scoffing at the now ruined party so they all got in their cars and headed off.

"Hey is everything alright? We were just about to get Goombella home but then we saw the lights shut off and thought something bad might've happened..." Kooper asked.

"No no it's fine, little devious Toad right here shut off the fusebox so he could get everyone out of there because it was really getting out of control," said Daisy while Toad smirked at her 'compliment.'

"Oh! Dixie! I didn't know you were still with us! Is everything okay?" asked Toad, noticing that the monkey gal looked upset.

"I...um...I'll tell it to you later. I just wanna go home and sleep..." she replied, not even bothering to look at him.

"Oh god, you and Diddy got in a fight, didn't you? Don't tell me you two broke up!" groaned Daisy and felt bad for her. Dixie wiped her eyes and just gave a shrug.

Right after that, DK suddenly came out of the castle with his arms crossed and held a serious expression.

"It's a bit funny how two people can be so close and then, suddenly, there's just one little thing that ends it all, don't you agree Toadette?" the ape asked in a way no one's ever heard him speak before. Everyone gave him a look of confusion.

"Uhhh...y-y-y-yeah, sure...I guess..." replied Toadette nervously while shifting her eyes.

"Hey, isn't that Waluigi's car over there? Why is it empty? Didn't the brothers and Pauline leave to go home in it?" asked Vivian, pointing to the purple Mustang, the only car that was now left on the grounds besides the remaining people.

"Yeah that is a bit odd. Did they go back inside? Perhaps they're lost in the dark?" suggested Birdo. Everyone else shrugged, not having the faintest idea since none of them saw the three after they exited the castle.

The lights turned back on and everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"Finally! Now let's get back inside and see how trashed the place is..." said Toad, not looking forward to cleaning up. Everyone went inside and groaned at the messes that were made. Cans, food, stains, glass, and anything else you can think of were scattered all over the floor.

Peach and Rosalina made it back to the others.

"Well we got the lights back on successfully, but now we need to clean this place up...fun..." sighed Peach, already tired enough as it is.

"We'll help you clean up, Peach. It will be a bit quicker if we do and I'm sure all of us wouldn't want you stuck to deal with this all by yourself. Any objections?" asked Kooper and everyone shook their heads...except for one ape.

"Nah, you guys got this. I'm just gonna go home and pretend that I never went to this stupid party in the first place. Quit trying to make yourself appear 'cool' and 'not boring' by throwing these crazy parties, Peach, you're not fooling anyone," stated DK in anger and quickly walked out of the castle, leaving the others in surprise by his unusual attitude.

"Wow! What the hell is his problem!? He's been acting like that for a while now. Dixie, do you know?" asked Toad.

"...N...no...I don't...just forget him, it doesn't matter. Let's start cleaning up," said Dixie while rolling her eyes.

"Peach, don't listen to anything that jerk says. I don't know what his problem is, but he needs to not take it out on us," said Daisy.

The princess stood there for a few seconds with no response. Tonight was suppose to be a blast, but it turned out to be the complete opposite.

As everyone started to clean up, Birdo checked the bathroom to see if Yoshi was still in there. Thankfully, he was, but it looks like the poor dino fell asleep next to the toilet.

"Ugh...Yoshi...oh god, is that the smell of puke!? Come on you, you're laying on the couch, then I'm taking you home once we're done here..."

THE NEXT MORNING...

Peach opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed in her room. She sat up and looked over to find Daisy lying next to her, still sound asleep.

"Huh. I don't remember coming up here to go to sleep...I must've been really exhausted after cleaning the place up..." she said to herself and then looked over to her clock. It was 12:27 PM. Peach never woke up that late before so she must've gone to sleep a lot later than she thought.

"Perfect. Just perfect. It's already noon and I haven't even ate breakfast, taken a shower, brushed my teeth...ugh, I am so not looking forward to today. Daisy, come on, wake up. It's late," groaned Peach while nudging her best friend. Daisy grunted a little and slowly opened her eyes.

"Oh my god...I feel like I've been hit by a bus...did we get everything cleaned up last night?" the tomboy said while yawning and standing up.

"I think so. I'm guessing after we were done, everyone else just left and us two just randomly fell asleep on here. I honestly don't remember anything from last night after DK was being rude to me for no reason..." said Peach while stretching her body and yawning as well.

"DK was probably buzzed last night, so don't worry about it. He turns into a mega douche when he's drunk, remember?" recalled Daisy, who was looking in the mirror and made a disgusted expression at how messy she looked.

"I guess so...well, whatever. Let's go brush our teeth and get dressed, we need to make ourselves look decent for when Mario and Luigi come home from their vacation later on today," said Peach and walked over to her closet to pick out the clothes she would wear after her shower. She opened it and let out a shrill.

"Peach!? What is it!?" Daisy jumped at her scream and ran over to the closet.

"O-OH MY GOD! IT'S DIDDY!" yelled Peach and quickly backed away. Daisy saw what made Peach petrified.

It was Diddy lying against the wall with his throat slit.

EOC.

So, even though Diddy is dead, he is still going to play an extremely important part in this story, from now until the very end. Also, the rest of the characters will appear next chapter. I'm not going to ask you all who do you think committed the crime, because it's just the first chapter and there will be many clues and mysteries unfurling as the story goes on.

And for those of you who are still waiting on a new chapter of Mario Party Deluxe, don't worry, for I will start writing it tonight and hope to get it uploaded before the 6th!


	2. Talk To Me

**Cast: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Peach, Daisy, Pauline, Rosalina, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette, DK, Dixie, Kooper, Goombella, Koops, Vivian, Bobbery, Count Bleck, Nastasia, Dimentio**

Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Rosalina, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette, DK, Dixie, Kooper, Goombella, Koops, and Vivian were all at the police station, just finished being interrogated by the police and were in the waiting room, except for Pauline, who was still in one of the interrogation rooms.

"This is so fucking stupid. I didn't do anything! Do these cops seriously think that a fat guy like me could kill Diddy Kong, someone who's known to be quick and agile?" groaned Wario in distress.

"No one is saying that you killed him, you idiot! The police just need every single side of the story because you and the rest of us were there when he got killed at the party! Me and Peach had no choice but to mention who was there!" shouted Daisy.

"B-but who on earth would kill Diddy Kong though? He was so nice...he didn't deserve it at all..." sighed Koops depressingly.

"No, he really wasn't actually..." whispered Toad.

"Did you say something, Toad?" asked Rosalina.

"Huh!? Oh, no no! I'm just...it's so hard to believe the fact that someone I knew is now just gone forever, never to be seen again, by the hands of someone so cruel..." replied Toad in quickness.

"It was probably you two and that tramp that did it! You three were nowhere to be seen after everyone was evacuated from the castle, despite the fact that your car was still there!" DK exploded out of nowhere.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! WE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIS MURDER, YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF DOING SOMETHING SO HORRIBLE!? IF ANYTHING, WE SHOULD BE ACCUSING YOU OF DOING IT SINCE YOU'VE BEEN ACTING LIKE A TOTAL ASSHOLE RECENTLY! HELL, YOU DON'T EVEN SEEM UPSET THAT YOUR OWN BROTHER IS DEAD!" Waluigi also exploded in double the anger.

"JUST STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU! This is SO not the time to be arguing and picking fights! Can we please just freaking calm down for at least one minute!?" shouted Peach in distress, still haunted by the gruesome mental image of Diddy's body.

"Yeah! Especially since poor Dixie has to go through with losing the love of her life and DK losing his brother! So I would really appreciate if you guys would show some respect!" demanded Toadette, having her best friend crying into her shoulder. She's been like that ever since she received the news of her lover's death.

"I...I am so sorry about your loss, Dixie and DK. I know there probably isn't anything we can do to make you feel better now but I just wanna let you know that we're all here for you, no matter what," said Yoshi, letting out a couple of tears and putting his hand onto Dixie's shoulder and looking sympathetically at DK. The ape just shook his head and looked in the opposite direction.

"Peach, have you texted or called Mario and Luigi about this? They need to know about Diddy," asked Goombella.

"I did both. I haven't received a reply from either of them yet. They're suppose to be back from Isle Delfino around now so hopefully they'll come straight here from the airport," replied Peach.

Pauline came out from the hallway with an officer following her. It's obvious that she is still feeling hungover because she looked tired, her hair was messy, and her makeup wasn't even on.

"Excuse me, but how come she was in there longer than the rest of us?" asked Kooper.

"Because I have received information from some of you folks that Ms. Mason over here had allegedly pushed Goombella Goom down the stairs at the princess's party. Is this not correct?" asked the Toad officer.

"Yes, it is! She seriously could've killed me or broken any part of my body!" yelled the goomba gal.

"I'M SORRY, OKAY!? I was so freaking wasted last night that I can't remember a single thing! When he told me that I pushed you down the stairs, I was beyond shocked! I didn't want to believe it..." cried Pauline. Even though she had a history of being an irritating bitch, everyone else could tell she genuinely felt bad.

"Well why is she even being interrogated the most anyways!? Just because she was wasted and pushed someone down the stairs, doesn't mean that she killed Diddy Kong!" yelled Waluigi, jumping to conclusions.

"Sir, please calm down. We are not saying that she nor any of you committed the crime, we are just trying to get as much information as possible. However, whether or not Pauline Mason killed him, she will be sent to jail for 24 hours for her violent act at the party," said the Toad officer. Waluigi angrily protested once again but everyone else just shushed him up.

"I really am sorry...for everything..." said Pauline, looking straight at Goombella with tears in her eyes, before she was taken away by another officer into another part of the building.

"Wow. For the first time in my life, I actually feel sorry for her..." Birdo sympathized.

"Now then, Princess Toadstool, are there any other guests that attended your party or is there anyone that you could think of that would want to harm Diddy Kong in any way?" asked the officer.

"Well, there were obviously others at the party, but I honestly can't remember any of their names...and as for the other part of the question...I have no clue who would kill Diddy or for what reason..." answered Peach. She didn't feel like thinking hard because she was so stressed out to the point that her head was pounding.

"Did you tell them that Dimentio was there?" asked Birdo. Everyone their shot their heads towards her in surprise.

"WHAT!? Dimentio was there too!? How the hell did he know about the party!? What is he even doing in Mushroom City!?" frantically yelled Daisy.

"I have no clue, but I just so happened to bump into him. He said he was there to meet someone very close to him. Who that is, I don't know, but I didn't seem him at all after that encounter," explained Birdo.

"This Dimentio, I assume you all know of him? Is he bad news?" asked the officer, not knowing the things that the jester did long ago.

"Yes, he's a fucking psycho and you should arrest him this instant! Who else would be evil enough to kill Diddy? The case has been closed!" Waluigi annoyingly ranted.

"Can you shut your fat mouth for one goddamn minute, PLEASE!?" yelled Yoshi in frustration. "Anyways, yes, Dimentio is someone who we all know has had a bad history of causing mischief. He should be questioned immediately."

"Alright, we will look into this Dimentio. I'm very sorry for your guys' loss. You're all free to go now, we'll call you later if anything else comes up or if we have any more questions," said the officer and proceeded to head off, until Peach quickly stopped him.

"Wait! One more thing! When you guys found Diddy at my castle, did you find his cellphone on him too?" the princess asked.

"No. There was no cellphone found on Diddy. Why?"

"Because, and I forgot to mention this earlier, he was screaming at someone through his phone when I last saw him. He said he wanted out of something? I'm not sure, I didn't get the full convo, but he seemed pretty upset at this person and told me to leave him alone," said Peach. The others raised their eyebrows at this weird description, including Dixie who had begun to stop crying.

"Um, that means that whoever killed Diddy, also stole his cellphone, right? They would do that so their caller ID wouldn't be shown on his phone when whoever found the body..." Vivian cleverly deduced.

The Toad officer stood there for a few seconds, opening his mouth to say something, but then closed it, as if he was scared to say what was in his mind at that moment.

"Um...thank you for that piece of infomation, princess. I'm sure it will be of help in the investigation," he then walked away.

"W-wait, he was talking to someone before he d-died?" asked Dixie.

"Yeah, he was. I don't who the person is that he was talking to, but whoever it was sure did something to make him upset. Maybe it was the same person that killed him?" Peach theorized.

"Speaking of that, Dixie, what were you and Diddy arguing about last night exactly, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Rosalina very politely, not wanting to send any kind of negative message whatsoever.

"I-I really don't want to talk about it...I just wanna go home and lay down..." replied Dixie with a sigh then wiping her nose and eyes.

"That's fine. We all understand. Come on, let's take you home. This is more than enough drama for one day," said Vivian. The gang slowly stood up and exited the station, only to be met by two people who were very much relieved to see.

"PEACH! You guys! We made it here as quick as we could! I'm so glad none of you guys got hurt!" yelled Mario as he was running up to the group and embraced Peach. The princess sobbed a little on his shoulder, beyond happy to finally see the love of her life after all the mess that's happened. Luigi and Daisy did the same thing too.

"Hey you two! Sorry that your return home had to end up so horribly. None of us thought for a second that something as awful as murder would ever happen," said Kooper.

"So it's official then, huh? Diddy is really gone forever? And the police don't know who did it?" asked Luigi right to his girlfriend's face, but it was also for anyone else to answer as well.

"Actually we do know who did it. It was Dimentio. He was there at the party looking for some friend to talk to or whatever! Who the hell else could it be!?" spoke Waluigi, once again trying to force his opinion down everyone's throat.

"Okay, you are SERIOUSLY getting on my nerves now. Stop it. We don't know if it was him or not. Just let it go for now," Birdo rolled her eyes.

"Dimentio? What the hell was he doing at your party? You didn't invite him, did you!?" asked Mario in shock not only for the fact that Dimentio was there but also the fact that he hadn't even heard anyone mention Dimentio's name for months now.

"No no of course not! I have no idea how he heard of my party but he was apparently there, according to Birdo who had bumped into him," explained Peach.

"Oh...well...it's obvious that he's up to no good. Trust me on this, you guys. He has to have something to do with Diddy's death. It cannot be a coincidence that he shows up to that party and then hours later, Diddy is murdered," spoke Mario in a demanding way. It seemed like he was determined to paint Dimentio as a huge suspect in all of this, but given their history, it was probably understandable.

"And Dixie and DK...I am truly sorry about Diddy. You must be in such tremendous pain right now..." said Luigi and gave them both a nice hug. Dixie forced a little smile and hugged him back while DK just seemed lost in thought.

"Thank you...so much. But...I just really wanna go home right now. I'm so tired and...I just want this day to be overwith already..." Dixie spoke so softly that everyone else could barely hear her.

"Of course. I'll drive you home, Dixie. And I'll spend the night with you too, well, if you want me too of course," offered Toadette.

"Yes...I really don't wanna be alone right now," replied Dixie.

"By the way, is there going to be a funeral? Did you guys already book one?" asked Mario.

"Yeah, it's suppose to happen tomorrow at 3 at Mushroom Hill Church, but I'm gonna see if I can postpone it to later in the evening. Pauline got jailed today and I kinda wanna make sure she gets out in time for it," said Peach.

"HUH? Pauline's in jail? What in the world..." Mario scratched his head, not believing that yet another bad incident happened last night.

"Oh yeah she, uhh, got kinda wasted and pushed me down the stairs. But don't worry, I'm fine. No major damage, at least none that I know of yet," Goombella said with slight sarcasm.

"Ugh, you just had to invite her as well, didn't you? Well...I guess it doesn't matter now. Let's just go home and get away from this mess. We'll all meet up at the church tomorrow, okay?" ordered Mario and everyone nodded their heads. As everyone began to split off, Rosalina pulled Toad over to her.

"Toad! I heard what you said under your breath back in there! How on earth could say such an awful thing about Diddy, our friend who just died!? Don't you realize that if Dixie and DK heard you, they would've gone ballistic!?" the space queen interrogated.

"I know, I know, I know! I'm sorry, I should've never said that! It's just...Diddy...he wasn't really...um...a nice person..." Toad forced himself to spit out the words.

"What are you talking about? Diddy was one of the sweetest guys I've ever met! How could you even be so heartless? Aren't you the least bit upset that he is dead?" Rosalina was stunned, not believing the words that were coming from his mouth.

"Of course I'm upset. Someone that I knew died at the place we were all at last night. It's scary to think that it could have been one of us as well! But, Rosalina, have you ever hung out with Diddy before, outside of our parties and holiday dinners?" asked Toad.

"Well...no, I haven't actually. But I don't see what that was to do with anything," replied Rosalina with a shrug.

"Then you haven't heard all of the horrible stuff he has said to me...and to some other people too. I really think that he said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and it got him killed," Toad explained, then turned around, and slowly walked away. Rosalina didn't want to believe that Diddy was vicious in any way, but why would Toad lie about such a thing?

* * *

><p>"Hey, thanks for staying over, Viv. There is no way in hell I am going to sleep all by myself in this tiny apartment after what happened," said Goombella, making her bed.<p>

"It's no problem and don't worry, I know how you feel. Just think, that could've easily been one of us who was killed at the hands of some psycho. Whoever killed Diddy, probably did it when Toad shut the lights off since it would be easier to sneak around with no light," Vivian deducted once again.

"Very true, but it begs the question though; why didn't the murderer go after the rest of us? Why only Diddy? He or she could've easily snagged us and did the deed while we were in the dark, but they didn't. This killer must've had, like, a personal vendetta against Diddy. That must've been who Diddy was talking to on the phone when Peach saw him!" Goombella theorized.

"Um, I'd really would rather not think about that right now. I'm just happy that the rest of us came out alive without a scratch…" Vivian tried her best to focus her attention onto something else otherwise she would never be able to get some sleep, so she quickly grabbed one of Goombella's magazines and flipped to a random page.

"You know, now that I think about it, Yoshi was apparently all by himself, passed out in one of the bathrooms in the dark as well. He is SUPER lucky that the killer didn't get him as well. Actually, one other thing, where the heck were Wario, Waluigi, and Pauline after they left the castle? They never told us what they were doing despite all of us knowing that their car was still here after all the other guests left," Goombella rambled on, not paying any attention to Vivian's worry.

"Goombella, please, just stop. I really don't wanna talk about this anymore!" Vivian demanded, trying not to sound rude. She put her focus onto the magazine page she was reading instead. It was about mental disorders.

"Sorry…you know me, I can be a total chatter box. Let's just order some pizza and get to bed early, alright?" Goombella proposed, still having a million thoughts about that night running through her mind.

* * *

><p>"I'm such an idiot! If I had just told him everything up front, he would never have stormed off and…and…god, what's wrong with me!?" Dixie sobbed on her bed as Toadette was fixing up her own bed.<p>

"No no no! Sweetie, you can NOT blame yourself for this! Please don't. How could you possibly have any idea that this would happen?" Toadette said and sat herself on her BFF's bed.

"I just…Toadette…do you remember the conversation you and me had yesterday, before the party? You remember, it was when I said that I thought was…you know…right?" Dixie tried to calm herself down especially since she was exhausted from crying.

"Yeah, I remember that talk. Still can't believe such an awful thing happened to you and now this. Why? Do you know who did it?" Toadette asked.

"No. I-I think Diddy overhead only part of our conversation. Toadette, he thought that I cheated on him! He was livid!" explained Dixie.

"WHAT? But that's not what happened though! And I totally thought you were arguing about something else!" Toadette replied in shock.

"He said he overheard me and you talking about 'that'. There is no way he heard the full conversation otherwise he wouldn't have reacted the way he did. And what did you think we were arguing about?" asked Dixie, wiping her eyes and nose with a few tissues.

"…Nevermind about that, it's not important. But you're right, Diddy would not have been mad at you if he heard the entire convo. Talk about the biggest misunderstanding in the world!" exclaimed Toadette.

"I know. It's just…I really wanted to tell him, but how could I though? That would mean that I am-"

"Dixie, let's not go there yet, okay? Let's just deal with one big thing at a time, alright? I don't want you to put so much stress on yourself. We'll tell everyone the truth about what happened to you whenever you're ready," advised Toadette and gave her a hug.

"Thanks Toadette…I'm so glad I have you as a friend. I don't know what I would do without you," Dixie let out a small smile for the first time in 24 hours.

"Yeah, me neither!" Toadette giggled. "But now, let's just get some sleep, okay? I know it's earlier than your usual bedtime, but you're clearly tired and so am I. Plus, we have a big day tomorrow with the funeral and all…"

"I don't know if I can be able to sleep, Toadette…whoever killed Diddy is still out there, waiting for their next victim. It could be any one of us, since we're all connected to Diddy. Actually…the killer could be any one of our friends as well," Dixie pointed out.

"Don't say that. Please don't say that. I don't need the thought of someone as innocent as, say, Peach or Luigi killing Diddy injected into my head right now," Toadette kinda shrugged off what Dixie said considering she's in an emotional state right now so it's only natural that she'd say such things.

"But have you gave it at least one thought, though? The possibility that someone we know killed my boyfriend? You'd be surprised at what people are capable of…especially after what we talked about yesterday…"

Toadette admitted in her mind that she DID think about what if someone close to her did it, but she decided to ignore it because she's known everyone in her circle of friends for years now, and she's either seen or heard about their dark sides, but none of them were so dark to the point where they ever had a history of hurting or killing people before.

**THE NEXT DAY…**

Yoshi was in his and Birdo's bedroom, staring into a mirror, checking if his attire for the funeral was decent enough.

"I haven't worn this suit since my brother's wedding. Do you think it looks okay? Not too old or rugged looking? Is it even appropriate?" he asked in worry.

"It looks fine, Yoshi, though I'm pretty sure it would be okay if you went a bit more casual. Peach called me earlier and said that all of Diddy's family would be at the funeral so we must give our condolences to them as well," Birdo said, putting on some earrings.

"Alrighty then. I just really hope that nothing goes wrong at the funeral, and by that, I mean I hope DK doesn't make a scene," Yoshi said while rolling his eyes.

"Do you have any clue what's with him anyways? For the past few months, it's like he's changed into a completely different person out of nowhere. It's kinda creepy if you tell me," asked Birdo, also staring into the mirror and smiling at Yoshi who was looking quite fetching in his suit and tie.

"I wish I knew. The dude has been talking to me less and less recently as well. It doesn't make any sense though, considering me and him have been best friends and have known each other far longer than the rest of our friends. See, this is exactly why it's a bad idea for people to keep secrets from each other! It just drives everyone else crazy as they imagine the worst thing possible for why so-and-so is acting a certain way. Plus, it isn't healthy to keep all that crap to yourself," Yoshi frustratingly ranted, not taking his eyes away from himself in the mirror.

"Okay, calm down, Mr. Psychologist. I agree that it isn't healthy to keep stuff bottled up but I'm sure you've had secrets that you never wanted to tell anyone either," Birdo chuckled at Yoshi's random change of mood.

"Sorry. And yeah, I have kept secrets from people before, but never huge ones that made me act like a different person. My parents always told me that it was healthy to speak out about anything that was bothering you," replied Yoshi.

"Sorry honey, but I'm gonna have to call BS on that. You're really telling me that you've never kept at least one big, dark secret from people before for a long period of time?" asked Birdo, calling her lover out like she usually does when something's off.

Yoshi took his eyes off the mirror and looked to Birdo. "Have you? Have you ever kept something to yourself that you knew would cause a lot of drama?"

Birdo's expression turned serious and she looked back in the mirror. "We should get going now. We don't wanna be late for the funeral."

* * *

><p>Everyone arrived at the funeral home and the gang met up with Diddy's parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, giving them hugs, saying their condolences, catching up on stuff, etc. Thankfully, DK kept his attitude down so nothing out of the ordinary was happening with him.<p>

Diddy's mother was literally having a breakdown right in front of her son's casket. Tears hit the floor like raindrops hit the concrete. She had to be escorted out by her sister. All everyone could do was feel sorry for her.

Koops wiped his eyes with a tissue. His heart sunk at the sight of Diddy's mom losing all control of herself like that.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone cry so hard in my entire life…gosh, I just can't ever imagine losing a family member to some psychopath…" he sniffed.

"Didn't you lose your dad for a long time though? I know he came back when you were on that adventure with Mario, but I'd say both situations are pretty damn similar," said Wario, who just so happened to be next to him.

"Yes, that's true, but I was only a little kid when it happened. I didn't understand the idea of death or what it was supposed to be exactly. When my mom told me the news of my dad, she just said that he was gone…and that was it. No details, no explanation, just…gone. Of course, I found out what really happened a few years later, but the minute I found out my dad was gone, I was upset, but only for a very short while. I got over it so quickly. Even when I found out the truth some years later, it didn't quite hit me. I guess I just always had some hope inside of me that he was somehow still alive and I would see him again one day," Koops explained.

"Gotcha. I suppose I can't really judge since I've never been through that before. But how did you not know about death when you were a kid? Hell, my mom told me all the details when I was freaking six! Morbid, I know, but you must've been a late bloomer, yeah?" Wario tried to make sense of what the koopa spoke.

"No, I…I don't know, okay? I guess my parents wanted me to grow up and be an optimist or, um, something. I don't know. That kind of topic rarely ever comes up in my household. I was just told over time that death is something that takes people away from this world and into another. My ex-girlfriend, Koopie Koo, even described death as being like a puppet master, something that's out of our control and power. I never really gave it much thought because I, um, don't really like thinking about it in the first place," Koops described further, clearly feeling uncomfortable now.

Mario walked up to Daisy, who had finished talking to Diddy's father. "Hey you. I never got to ask how you've been, you know, seeing the body and all? I asked Peach about it and she poured her heart out to me. She was crying for the rest of the day after we got home from the station…I can't imagine the trauma she or you must be going through from seeing him in the closet…"

"I've been…coping. Somehow, I managed to get some sleep last night, but of course, it had to be ruined by some stupid nightmare. I just need to keep myself occupied with something proactive. Thanks so much for asking," Daisy replied to him with a little smile and a shrug.

"No problem. I just know that it always helps to talk about these things, get everything off your chest. By the way, that's a beautiful butterfly necklace you have on there. Is that new? I don't think I've ever seen you with that before," Mario pointed out the beautiful, golden butterfly necklace that matched her yellow dress.

"Oh this? Luigi got it for me from Isle Delfino as a gift. You didn't know?" asked Daisy in suspicion.

"Oh, no, I didn't. Guess he just forgot to tell me or whatever. No big deal," Mario shrugged.

"Hmm. Okay then. By the way, it's so weird seeing you without your usual attire on. Red shirt and black slacks though?" Daisy noticed that the hero's choice of clothing for the funeral looked a bit off.

"Oh! Yeah, I just wanted to something more formal for the occasion, you know? And on such short notice, this was all I could find, heh," Mario awkwardly laughed, agreeing in his mind that it was weird choice of clothing.

Daisy laughed a bit as well, but then her expression turned into shock when she looked behind Mario.

"Oh my god, is that Bobbery!?" she yelled. Mario turned around and almost shrieked when he saw the sailor at the entrance. He laughed again and power walked over to him.

"Bobbery! What on earth are you doing here!? How have you been?" Mario excitedly asked and gave him a hug. Goombella, Koops, and Vivian all walked over as well.

"Ah, pretty much the same, old friend! Still sailing out to the seas every once in a while. As for what I'm doing here, well, I decided to get away from Rogueport for a short time, so I'm vacationing in the city for a few days and I heard about what happened to that poor chap so I decided to come on over and pay my respects while catching up with you lot at the same time," the sailor explained, hugging the other three partners.

Goombella was so overjoyed to see him that she cried more than she did earlier. "B-bobbery, we missed you so much! *Sniff* Why haven't you sent us letters or calls?"

"I'm so sorry…I've just been caught up in a lot of personal matters for a while now. I didn't mean for you guys to think that I was ignoring you all on purpose or anything," Bobbery said.

"It's okay. You're here now so I suppose it makes up for it. Um, did you know Diddy at all or have you ever met him before?" asked Koops.

"Only a couple times through parties and of the sort. Seemed like a nice fellow from what little interactions we've had. I assume the police are still investigating the murder case?" asked Bobbery.

"Yeah they are. No word yet from them. Um, why don't you come sit with us, I'm sure everyone else would love to see you too," Koops gestured and Bobbery happily accepted of course. Everyone began to take their seats for the beginning of the ceremony. The gang sat at the very front row. Waluigi took a glance behind him for just a split second, but did a double take when he saw someone he strongly detested.

"WOAH! What the hell is Dimentio doing here!?" he shouted, capturing the gang's attention and they all turned around as well.

"Oh my god! Did the police not question him yet? Why the hell is he here!? He doesn't even know Diddy!" Yoshi squealed.

"Holy crap…and look who is next to him! It's Nastasia! How did they know about all of this!?" Toad exclaimed.

"Wait a second, was that who Dimentio was going to meet at the Halloween party? Was that Nastasia? Why the hell were they meeting there of all places?" Birdo questioned, putting some pieces of the puzzle together. The gang became nervous, because they all knew of the trouble those two caused in the past, so they could easily have come back to stir up some more.

* * *

><p>Count Bleck was in the Mushroom Kingdom Insane Asylum, in his room, singing to himself while drawing.<p>

_"It's just your shadow that's with me all the tiiiiime. But how can I say that this is miiiiine? You're never here…you just disappear…where do I go? How am I supposed to find you? You've lost yourself, and now you're about to lose meeee…"_

Bleck put the pencil down and smiled at his drawing. It was a drawing of Mario and DK, but this was a very grotesque drawing. It showed Mario on top of DK, his hands on the ape's neck. Mario was also wearing Diddy's hat.

"Oh Mario Mario Mario…I really wish people would see that you have a dark side just like the rest of us. No one is happy-go-lucky and sunshine all the time, isn't that right, Peachie?" Bleck said to himself, holding up a doll that looked like Princess Peach, except that the doll's dress was torn up, her hair was messy and some of it was even ripped out, and her right eye was missing.

EOC.

I can't apologize enough for the continuous long waiting. College + work = loads of stress and little me time. Thankfully, school is coming to an end for Christmas so that's something. Next chapter will contain flashbacks pertaining to Diddy and some stuff he said and did, plus some other things as well. What do you guys think happened to Dixie when she and Toadette were having the talk in her room? Who do you find suspicious? BTW, for whatever reason, I've always considered DK and Diddy to be brothers so that's what they'll be in this fic.


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